The present invention relates to a horizontal vacuum belt filter machine, and more particularly to an endless belt filter machine wherein the endless belt comprises multiple longitudinally oriented endless belt segments arranged in side-by-side fashion.
Generally, endless belt filters are known in the art such as the machine described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,190,451, granted June 22, 1965. Basically, these machines comprise an endless single belt mounted on drums journaled to the frame of the machine. An endless filter medium is supported by the endless belt on the top side thereof, and suction supplied to selected openings in the bottom of the belt functions to withdraw water from slurry-like materials deposited upon the filter medium. Ultimately, the filter cake is removed from the filter medium at the discharge end of the machine. Heretofore, most belt filter machines of the above described type include a single endless belt of a unitary or one-piece nature, or one fabricated from two or more pieces cemented or otherwise secured together into a single unitary member. Such a construction is not only difficult to handle and assemble but proper tensioning and tracking of the belt for extended periods of operation are difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.
Belt filter machines have also been proposed that include a plurality of drainage belts trained around spaced apart rotatable drums with a continuous gap left between adjacent edges of the belts through which filtrate drainage is effected. Such a machine is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,426,908, granted Feb. 11, 1969. The belts of these machines do not cooperate with one another to form a unitary unit, and instead are spaced apart to provide the drainage characteristics.